I drove into town late Thurs and took a quick spin @ west entrance to town. Nothing I wanted to check out so i turned around and drove back down canyon of N fork of Yuba river to Ramshorn FS XG for a $10.50 camp spot. Deserted XG, such that spring grass has not been trampled down or mowed. Right above hwy 49 and river.
Thurs. I drove back to town. Two shuttle services. Two conflicting shops. I made a shuttle arrangement w/ 1 shop but hung @ the other shop. I walked over to Yuba Expeditions seeing a guy waving @ me. It was Andy whom I met in Sedona this spring. His memory was better than mine. Yuba Expeditions is part of the Sierra Buttes stewardship organization, a non profit dedicated to improving the area trails, Big time effort. This is the better shop and the better place to put my $.
Fri I rode the N Fork Yuba trail out and back to Goodyear bar. I visited Downieville 6/24/10 and rode this piece which then was fledgling. Today is is complete and aged well. Lots of poison oak shading the trail. Trail is S of river. I took a solar shower in the FS parking lot.
I had this creak in my bottom bracket area that i was sorting out. I stopped back @ the shop where Andy said he would take a look @ it. He suspected bottom bracket, my Chris King. He replaced it w/ a Shimano XT. I pedaled a bit w/ no creak. I fried my King bottom bracket after 7,892 miles and 575 rides.
Great historical plaque of Downieville:
Andy told me of a camping spot up canyon that I checked out, a turn out on an RER. Free and quiet. I saw an old bench cut trail leading away from the road that I checked out. Tragic: future logging cruising signs. Maintaining the road for future logging.
Fri I drove back to town. Today I rode out of town up Downie river to Second Divide trail that climbed up to junction w/ Third Divide then down First Divide back into town. 2nd divide was a humper. 1st divide is almost all down hill and is part of the Downieville classic mtn bike race. I put some air under my tires several places.
No creaking bottom bracket.
Back @ parking lot I took another solar shower. Then spent the night back @ previous spot.
Sat was my shuttle ride @ 11:00. Today marked the official opening of shuttle service. 9 riders and bikes piled into a maxi van and rode up to packer Saddle drop off. A NGO plowed the road of snow before the drop off. Greg told us Sunrise was still snowed in so to ride down FS 93 to 93.3 down to Butcher Ranch trail. Another shuttle rig of riders started along w/ my batch. The pace @ the upper sections was hectic as the testosterone raged. I stayed back. Snow still covered patches of the trail, this is spring snow, not the dustings I had received in the desert:
Down a bit further a rider told us of a downed rider w/ a broken leg. I understood that he was being treated by EMTs. I passed to see his leg being splinted. Organized rescue was not able to pull his evacuation out so he hiked out using his bike as a crutch.
I took 1 hr 48 mins to travel 15.41 miles dropping 4906′ and climbing 777′ I rode down 2nd divide that I rode up yesterday. I rode down a tree root section that appeared to have a smooth run out. Hidden in the shade was a wheel trap that impeded my front wheel which started a nose wheelie and a possible over the bars crash. Coolly I rode it out.
Back in town I checked out the cemetery which is a boot hill side hill. Back in 1850s there were 5,000 people here involved in gold mining, lots of dead citizens.
When i got off my bike I noticed that my lower back was painful. I couldn’t stretch it out.
Another solar shower before a thunderstorm dropped a few sprinkles. I ate dinner @ place beside the bike shops. Pizza: portabello mushrooms, asparagus, and pesto. Tasty.
Back out to camp spot. I heated h2o and filled a hot h2o bottle and placed it on the small of my back that gave some comfort. I decided that I should rest today.
I needed groceries of which there was scarce selection in town. today I bid Andy good bye and headed down river. I am now in Grass Valley seeking its namesake.
My next stop is Chico that has a mtn bike scene. I asked IMBA for a list of towns the trail care crew had visited, Chico is one of them.